The New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers made headlines with a blockbuster trade on Wednesday morning.
Following a shoulder injury to first-round pick Christian Gonzalez, which will leave the former Oregon Ducks product out indefinitely, the Patriots swung a trade for a familiar star defender in J.C. Jackson. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport was the first to report the news of Wednesday’s trade, as New England and Los Angeles will swap 2025 sixth and seventh-rounders, as part of the deal.
The Chargers signed Jackson to a five-year, $82.5 million contract ahead of the 2022 NFL season. And Just three weeks into the 2023 season and year two of his contract, Los Angeles made Jackson a healthy scratch for the team’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
In 2022, Jackson struggled before suffering a season-ending torn patellar tendon in Week 7. After totaling 17 interceptions over 2020-21 with the New England Patriots, Jackson had zero in five games with the Chargers in 2022. He had a league-high 23 pass deflections in 2021 before having just two pass deflections with the Chargers in 2022.
The NFL world was quick to react to the news that Jackson would be reuniting with his former team.
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It remains to be seen if Jackson can revive his career where it started. The Patriots are in desperate need of cornerback help and perhaps a reunion with a familiar defense can help Jackson return to the player he was before he signed a huge free-agent contract with the Chargers.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.